Beauty Basics: MAC Face Brushes

Beauty Basics is a series covering basic products and tools that help to make applying your makeup easier. To view the entire series to date, be sure to visit the beauty basics, or you can view posts within the series about MAC Face Brushes.

Focus On: MAC 195 Concealer Brush

MAC 195 Concealer Brush ($22.00) is a small, flat brush with synthetic fibers. It’s shaped like a severe, tapered dome. It was launched with Studio Sculpt, so it is designed to work with concealer products, but it can be used with any emollient product as well. I’m not a huge fan of this brush, just because I don’t feel it does a stellar job of applying or blending concealer. It’s flat and firm, though the bristles have give so they can bend easily. It picks up product and places it well, I just find that it can leave some streaks behind if you’re not careful. The best way to use this brush when applying concealer is using a tapping method rather than a pulling/blending method. I know some have complained about this brush being scratchy, though I have not personally found mine is like that. If anything, I prefer this brush for applying eyeshadow bases (paints, paint pots, what-have-you) over concealer.

Beauty Basics: MAC Face Brushes

Beauty Basics is a series covering basic products and tools that help to make applying your makeup easier. To view the entire series to date, be sure to visit the beauty basics, or you can view posts within the series about MAC Face Brushes.

Focus On: MAC 194 Concealer Brush

MAC 194 Concealer Brush ($19.00) is a small, flat brush with a paddle-shape that’s slightly tapered. It’s a good brush for initially applying product. I use this to dab on foundation from pumps/bottles, concealers that squeeze out or come in liquid form, etc. I find it makes it easy to simply get the product onto my face without too much getting caught in fluffier brushes’ bristles. After I’ve used the 194 to dab on the product, then I’ll go to whatever brush is actually going to blend it in/apply it fully. I prefer fluffier brushes like the 217 or 275 for blending out concealer personally. This brush, however, is good for applying concealer if you need a bit more precision — say around your brows — but if you don’t need strong lines, then it’s not as necessary.

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Beauty Basics: MAC Face Brushes

Beauty Basics is a series covering basic products and tools that help to make applying your makeup easier. To view the entire series to date, be sure to visit the beauty basics, or you can view posts within the series about MAC Face Brushes.

Focus On: MAC 192 Cheek/Face Brush

MAC 192 Cheek/Face Brush ($32.00) is a flat, paddle-shaped brush with a more tapered edge than the typical paddle-shape. It’s made out of synthetic fibers, and it is designed to be used with creamy/emollient face and cheek products, like blushcremes, moisturizer, Strobe, etc. For application of blushcremes (or cream blushes–same thing), I like to use the tip to just gently apply a few dots of color on the cheek. Then I use the entire brush to blend it outwards and get a soft, smooth look. I’ve also found that the size of this brush (smaller than the 190) makes it a good brush for blending concealer in, too. It’s large enough that it only takes a few brush strokes to blend your concealer into place, but it isn’t so large that you can’t get into the nooks and crannies. This is a solid brush, and actually sometimes prefer this one to the 188 for blushcremes.